Any time, GRT Grand - T.Nagar

Duh! Heartbreaker!!
Bad luck befalls good restaurants sometimes; maybe it’s just a day. I wish I could write a review with such generosity, since I had a soft corner for this place. The GRT Grand Days’ lobby buffet ‘Anytime’ has been my ‘Alltime’ favorite. Since 2002 I guess, I’ve been there ‘n’ number of times and it has never let me down. Now what better ‘tried and tasted’ place to recommend to fellow burrpers from all around the country for a meet? How frustrating it is, when you are let down so badly and it involves the ‘food honor’ of the city by itself!

Burrpers from every metro in India graced the GRT Grand Days that weekend, and it was all fun except for the food at ‘Anytime’! I mean, what’s got into these guys? It was probably the best buffet in terms of quality and quantity even until a few months back that I visited. The crowd is still the same as it used to be, lot of family esp. on the weekends. The ambiance is typical, nothing innovative. There is an attempt to sophistication though. The food used to cover up for any other inadequacies here. But it seems the other way now. The service is quick and we were actually offered complimentary ice cream brought right to our room, for providing melted milkshaky ice cream in the buffet.

To be precise, there is nothing left to remember, nothing finger licking.. oh well nothing edible! No wait, I need better words! The starters were ok, weird names and weird tastes, the main course was nothing weird for a change, it was absofreakinlutely boring set of side dishes, some paneer, some okra, some brinjal, some gourd. The gobi pulao had not a single piece of gobi in it and I guess no salt in it either! What I found funny was the ‘Grand’ rice, tasted like a road-side brinji or whatever. Whoever decided to give that rice the signature name! The desserts were not bad, but definitely not the variety there used to be. Only good mention I can give here, is that the Bengali sweets viz. rasagolla, rasamalai, gulab jamun, etc. were awesome.

I didn’t make the mistake of reviewing this place few months back! Shame on you guys, even if it’s for a day, even if you’ve not satisfied a single customer, you are a loser already. But as a genuine patron, am still wondering where has it gone wrong? Has the chef changed? Or has he become really really old?? Whatever! Mainstreet is right next door and serves their buffet hundred bucks less than GRT. I hear the breakfast buffet is good though (continental/south Indian), no reason to be forgiven for letting me down!

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 2.5 /5 ( i would ve given a 5 few months ago :( )

Service - 4/5

Price - 1100 and above for a couple

Will i ever go back? - hmm.. tough one! actually yes, i wud like to chek it out again hopin not to be disappointed...ahhh naaa...ahhh..mmmm...

Any time
Hotel GRT Grand,
106 Sir Thyagaraya Road,
T.Nagar, Chennai
Phone 28150500, 28150793

Adios, my old friend!

Aqua, The Park - Anna Salai

Luxury and comfort neednt mean the same!

I heard this place is too damn romantic and so fixed my very special date here.. i wudnt say i was disappointed mayb i jus expected too much .. watever said n done there's nothin romantic like Italian.. n this place isnt ...

We made a reservation for the poolside well i shudnt call them tables.. the bed by the poolside? its completely dark and it was rock music n bbq buffet since it was a Wednesday. Unfortunately we sat rite next to the bbq and dwelled in the heavenly smoke and smell all thro the eve. The music was awesome.. really perfect on the ears tho it was live in such a small place.. the pool was dull and boring.. too much darkness with a not so beautiful candle lite didn't really help.. the promised city view was a disappointment.. sitting in the beds twas not only tuff to eat from the small table (sharing the lamp) but also to watch the city...but yea was nice and cozy to lie down and yap!

Comin to the food, the guy who took our reservation on fone said that u cannot access the buffet inside if u reserve the poolside..huh! Now for veggies, the bbq had only 6 items exactly!..n i was wonderin if thts all my dinner is goin to be :( but fortunately the main course n desserts inside were allowed to be accessed.. not that there was any variety anyway.. jus one choice of rice, noodles, side dish and a couple or more of the usual desserts.. the bbq was good tho.. the lentil cutlet was awesome and a must try.. other than which was the usual paneer tikka, aloo skewer, etc. and of course the raw banana was quite a different attempt..

The service is ok .. its 5 star so u don have to worry about that.. the sunset margarita which aqua is known for was horrible! The other drinks were not any good either.. the chek is ofcourse too huge for the tiny place and tiny buffet..

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 3/5

Service - 4/5

Price - Well I paid around 4000 bucks including drinks, the buffet is aorund 1000 bucks i guess.

Will i go back again? - Ahem if i have the dough, sure why not? But i ve 601 and Lotus to try yet!

Aqua
The Park
601 Anna Salai,
Nungambakkam,
Chennai - 600034
Phone 42144000

Can try once for being in chennai n enjoyin luxury.. but not comfort.. and obviously nothing more..

Barbeque Nation - T.Nagar

RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE!

and this aint even a three star hotel! Nobody has ever heard of Shri Devi Park Hotel until BbqNation sprang up with this innovative concept which attracted the typical wannabe crowd of the city .. so its undeniably happening.. that explains the pricing and the careless service. I wish they bought the waiters a mic and some confidence before they start work.

The ambiance is quite different, of course the starters being grilled on the table is part of it! But seriously, the kebabs are already cooked and ur actual kidding urself tryin to burn it further on ur table! I felt like playing 'kitchen kitchen' when i was five! Vegetarians PLZ STAY AWAY, dont get carried away by reviews written by ppl who have probably ate in the Bangalore bbqnation! Theres nothing in the starters for veggies except for the usual paneer crap u can find anywhere and Thai baby potatoes which was not bad (a big let down afetr reading so much about it online).

Hence to do justice, i ve got the reviews from meat-eating friends too. The chicken (Singapore style) and the prawns were edible. The stuff that actually tasted good was the ones that were directly served on the plate, viz the crispy babycorn was sooooo yummy and the fish in oyster sauce was great too. Since we were advised to spend a lot of time with the starters, we were ready for more disappointment in the buffet.

The buffet was just the usual. The veg biryani which was recommended wasn't there to be seen. There was the usual gravies, Chinese stuff, noodles, curd rice, etc. naan was served on the table and the dal was actually really good, compared to the bland taste of the rest. The desserts were average, esp the mini-jamun with ice cream and the butterscotch 'something'. Nothing else was worth remembering. The bar menu was extensive and had everything from around the world, which is quite amazing for such a place. But be ready to spend a fortune if you want to have a good drink. They have some innovative cocktails, the masala margarita was good with chaat masala on the rim! NO! there is no complimentary drink with the buffet as falsely reviewed by many all over the internet!

As such, the buffet costs u around 450 including tax, if u planning to add anymore than that, carry ur mastercard! But if i had a lota money to blow, i wud choose much much better places in the city, than being blinded by mere hype!

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 2/5

Service 2/5

Price - Close to 1000 bucks for a couple if you dont open the bar menu (else u can forget ur math)

Will i ever go back? - Are you kidding me?.. not even if ur payin!

Barbeque Nation
Shri Devi Park Hotel,
Near Soma Sunder Ground,
1, Hanumantha Street,
T.Nagar, Chennai - 600017
Phone 42694481, 42694482

Whatever said and done.. you can try it once for novelty sake... if you go back again.. not my fault nemore!

Crystal Jade, Checkers - Saidapet

Worst-ever restaurant in the city!

Checkers! i used to wonder how this place is not so famous sittin in such a place in the city. So decided to explore this place when i had to treat some friends, but was disappointed so much. The hotel looks great and the buffet at Stimulation (the cafe at lobby level) had a very scanty menu priced at 400 bucks and smelt like a bar rite from outside.The quality of food was apparent and wasn't worth payin so much for sure. I wish i had been to GRT or Residency towers instead for almost the same price or just a lil more.

We had a savior we assumed, the chinese restaurant (completely empty) in the 2nd floor looked good and smelt much better. I ask the waiter 'Do u have a buffet' and he says ' No mam, only Chinese!' .... No comments... Jus went ahead and opened the menu which was again very less and the veg items were even lesser. Service is ok, not bad. The soup (Tom Yum) was like horrible and tasted more like south-indian rasam, the starters spring rolls (bland), veg balls 'q' (only good one) and onion rings (had to gulp it down with a whole glass of water to void mishap) were nuff samples for us to kno how much to order in the main course.

The main course were schewan fried rice (wasnt spicy, i guess no salt too), pan-fried noodles (good and only thing to fill the tummy), thai green curry (awful), and five-spiced veg balls gravy (i lost my sense of taste by then, so don rem) and yea the dim sum (duh!). Whatever! desserts cant b that bad anywhere. Who says so? The strawberry milkshake was bland. The banana fritters were the worst i ve ever had, we ordered a plate for 5 of us and still had half the plate unfinished when we left. Thank god the fried icecream was unavailable. And for this quality of food, the place is irritatingly expensive, the decor's good... now m not here to pay for ur interior designing.. i am here to eat!

After paying hella lot here, i went to a local south indian fast food and had good food - tummy-filing and heart-filling - for less than 100 bucks :)

Ambiance - 4/5 for the looks but 1/5 for the smell

Food - A BIG O / on anything!

Service - 3/5

Price - 800 bucks for a couple which u can as well dump into a dustbin!

Will i ever go back? - NO! and U BETTER STAY AWAY FROM CHECKERS!

Crystal Jade
The Checkers Hotel,
No. 30, Mount Road,
Little Mount,
Saidapet, Chennai - 600035
Phone 43994399

Did you really want the address after all this?

Opal Inn, Hotel Ranjith - Nungambakkam

A little more promotion will do the job!

The hotel ranjith has been there right in the centre of the city for years now but somehow it has never been the centre of attraction for the public. It maybe cos of the unattractive looks from the outside and the uninviting sidey look of the Opal Inn restaurant although its well accessible from outside the hotel through a small lane that goes from Nungambakkam high road. But for the real foodies at heart, this place is one of the best in the city...

As I entered, the restaurant did look a little dark and anyone but a patron wud hesitate a moment before they step in. The ambiance is fine-dining, very dim-lit, more for the silent diners. The menu is vast with stuff from regular cauliflower manchurian to veg au gratin. There is a lot for meat-eaters though vegetarians do have options too. The starters sound yummy. Though I was so tempted to order the egg fried rice and some tandoori gravy, the sizzlers caught my attention. There is also a section that says 'meal in itself' where there is shashlik and some continental stuff.

The veg classical steak sizzler was awesome, though it seemed like just aloo pattie in the inside. You mite wanna call it a cutlet except for the sauce on top of it n the sizzling hot tray in comes in with veggies and (soggy) fries. Its huge, yummy and very filling. My friend who had the fish sizzler also thought its awesome and filling. The dessert section is not very wide but the caramel custard managed to attract a person like me who doesnt have a sweet tooth. It was worth it. But the speed in which the food was delivered made me wonder if there is just a microwave in the kitchen, so much for fast service!

Last, the place is a bit expensive, say 200 to 300 for each dish, a meal for two mite reach upto 1000 bucks. But I guess its worth it considering the food and service.

Ambiance - 3/5

Food - 4/5

Service - 4/5

Price - around 800 bucks for a couple

Will i go back? - Definitely need to try everything in the menu, which cant be done in one visit.

Opal Inn
Hotel ranjit,
15 nungambkkam high road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600034
Phone - 28270521

The ambiance might need a makeover if they wanna grab customers, unless they intentionally want it this way.

Ahaar, The Residency - T.Nagar

Weirdo

i'm having mixed opinions on this place .. i really dono if i shud recommend it or not..if ur a foodie, as in just bothered bout the food, u can def hit this place, but for me i'm not goin bak here again. But yes the food is awesome and the service is a good attempt too.

My problem is with the ambiance. I expected a three star hotel like The Residency to have a class. There was no lobby, u had to walk-in to a scary sidey looking elevator to reach the first floor or u can climb up the stairs that smells of booze from the bar in there. You enter the restaurant which looks like a plain flat long banquet hall with no interiors made into a restaurant with wooden furnitures and the buffet placed in one corner, there was this carnatic music playing live there, which was more irritating than pleasant. So this 'booth'ish place sure wasnt welcoming nor was the crowd there that looked like middle-aged men who came to drink in the bar and walked in here by mistake. Somehow the atmosphere smelt rusty and antique, not in a good way. We wouldve walked out but for the cake we had ordered already for a friends bday.

The service is good, they gave a quarter kg cake on the house. The manager was very attentive. But somehow the waiters were acting weird, funny and were too eager to serve you well, which was kinda cute n fortunately not disgusting since we were in celebration mood. To sum it up, it wasnt professional, but the food was great.

The buffet has the usual north, south indian and chinese stuff. There was a live aapam counter with awesome coconut milk as side dish. YUMMY. The starters were GR8, the mysore bonda was incredible and the pasta with both white and red sauce were very good too. They had freshly fried potato and banana chips which were mouth watering. The chapathi was bad tho, rubbery. But the tandoori paratta compensated for it. The gravies were paneer, aloo, gobi made very well and some radish peanut innovative thingie which i din like much.

South indian was good too with tangy kozhambu and veggie, curd rice and curd vada both tasted sexy. There was a residency rice, which din deserve the signature name, actually the pineapple rice was diferent and better. Chinese was noodles and a ladies finger in soy sauce. The problem was that the food were arranged in random order, so u cant really get the rite comby to eat. Desserts were the best part, from anything like payasam to custard tasted yummy. The icecreams were very richly flavored too ...

Ambiance - 1/5

Food - 5/5

Service - 3.5/5

Price - 700 per couple

Will i give back again? - If i hear about a renovation, will definitely walk-in without fear!

Ahaar
The Residency
No. 49, G.N.Chetty Road,
T.Nagar,
Chennai - 600 017.
Phone: 044 28253434
http://www.theresidency.com/residency-chennai/chn-ahaar.asp

Dont miss the strawberry icecream...that u jus cant stop eating...